Mission Impossible II

 BIG RICK`S SWIM TEAM

Presents....

The Channel Impossible II
(Nothing Great Is Easy..!)
Only 40 days to go....

 ‎"Your mission 'Big Ricks Team', should you choose to accept it; is to swim the English Channel Twice in under 24 Hours.!... As usual, should you or any member of your team be Sea Sick, get stung by a Jellyfish, or hit by the odd piece of wood, a ferry or worse!! Well tough..!!!! you're not getting out until your hour slot is completed...!!! This boat will self-destruct after 24 hours so you best do it.!!. Good luck, Boys.(Simply click the arrow on the picture above to listen to a great song as you read, and TURN it up loud..!!)

This looks simple wouldn`t you say...Just  jump in at Dover,paddle over to France, make a sand castle have a ice cream maybe on Cap Gris Nez Beach, and then paddle back to Dover for some Fish and Chips and a beer.. EASY...!!!

The Challenge...! The truth is Ricks loved swimming the channel in 2011.!!,so When we finally  all got back together  for a team chat over  Christmas we still very much  had the channel swim from july on our minds.! ,  we started to talk about what our challenge would be for 2012...? the suggestions  were varied and not all just swimming..!!! We had normal things like climb Everest..! ( Answer ""way 2 easy"" ), Walk to the south pole (Answer  ..WALK, no way!!  ) Swim the length of the River Thames  ( Answer maybe!!) , We also had  some impossible suggestions like get Lisa to reply to emails (Answer ..more chance of winning the lottery ), and the we had get Darran `super chest ` to do things 1^st  for change , instead of waiting till the last possible second every time to get things sorted .! (Answer..A  Leopard never changes its spots.!!) ..so after a few hrs  chatting  it became clear what we would be doing 2012.., We just could not walk away from The Channel before we had a attempted  at 2-way crossing, just no way, ...So the plans have been put in place to do just that....

This might not look much to some..!! but to a channel swimmer it means
 every thing.!.  The Honour's Wall at Varne Ridge  shows all Solo and Relay Teams from around the world that have stayed there and went on to have an successfully swam across the Channel..! every one of the plaques has an amazing story to tell.
Ricks would be so proud to Join this list of amazing swimmers from the past..!!
http://www.varne-ridge.co.uk/channelswimming.co.uk

The Dates and Venues..  OKAY...plans are now in Place...We have booked into the famous channel hide out, the place where all channel swimmers who are anyone have stopped before thier attempts to conquer the mighty channel...Varne Ridge Holiday Park.! Ricks are booked in from the 24th to 30th June 2012,. This years Swim we think will Start ( like last yrs crossing ) from Samphoe Beach (Dover ). It can start at any time, once we get the Green light from our Pilot, (who is again is the Channel God Mr Fred Mardle) i say any time but  please Fred let it be a better hour this yr , last time starting at 1.15am was not fun !. Once underway we will stop only once at Cap Gris Nez beach in France, before then returning back to Samphoe beach in Dover .!(it really does sounds simple don`t you think..!!!) 

Looking Out  across the English  Channel from  the white  cliffs of Dover..!!
its only 22  miles to France from here.ONLY..!

The Time and Distance.. Okay..before we carry on , lets make one thing clear to Ricks Coach  Basher Bates , THIS year we are not getting hooked up on best times..!! SO before you even think it, before you even ask it  or say or suggest anything Paul, the answer is NO NO NO !!) our goal, (our only Goal)  is to Finish..as every good channel Pilot will tell his or her swimmers this year or any year, every swimmer should Just be happy to finish , because Many Don`t.!!! ..  So back to our  time and distance for a 2 way swim..., truthfully the answer is we really don`t know.. , but if we are to take a very rough guess the swim we think will take around 24 hours .!, As for the distance , well this again is almost impossible to say, as so many things have an impact on the day as to how far you will swim,  so our only guide is what we did on last year one way crossing, so  it  could be well over 60 miles + of swimming.!!!, off course its not just the swimming that makes channel relay swims so hard, its  being on a small boat , most likely in choppy water, most likely colder on the boat than in the water, if that's bad enough you are also trying navigate the busiest shipping lane in the world..Twice.!!  Mmm its not sounding so easy now...;-)

Masterpiece..
Ricks Boat for the 2 way..! as you can see its not the biggest you will ever see..
joking aside...We are sure the hardest part of this Epic challenge won`t be the 4 hrs each we have to swim, but surviving 24 hrs on tiny boat in rough seas and Cold air Condition's on board after each of us swim  .!! but  no one ever said channel swimming was easy , so we just have to deal with it..!!
 plenty of sea sickness tablets for starters..!! 

The Charities.. It goes without saying that  Big Ricks will be always be supporting The British Heart Foundation and swimming in Memory of our Dear Mark Rickhuss ( aka Big Rick) when we do a challenge ,  but again this year we have decide to support another charity along side our support for the BHF..

Together We Can Beat Heart Disease..!!
www.bhf.org.uk

This Year Big Ricks are Joining a New and Very important Fight,  A Fight that needs winning FAST...!!!, this fight like that like that of the BHF is very personal to everyone in Big Ricks, We are proud to say we have Joined The Fight to beat Breast Cancer...!! ..

" Every day, around 130 women will find out they have Breast Cancer.Whats worse is each year 12,000 women and 70 men lose their lives to the Disease..!!! "
Join with Big Ricks Swim Team in the Fight to Beat Beast Cancer
http://breastcancer.cancerresearchuk.org/

Big Ricks Swim Team are attempting a Swim For Life in June of 2012 we are doing a 2 way swim of the English Channel in aid  of   The British Heart Foundation  and Cancer Research UK The Fight To Beat Breast Cancer if you wish to help and support  with our

"" Swim For Life ""

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/bigricks

( to donate simply click the link above ) 

Thank you..Big Ricks x

Big Ricks Channel team
The Don, Basher, The Badger,The Gimp & Captain Chunky Monkey.
( sadly Super Chest was unavailable for the Team Picture )

The Swim Prize. The Prize should we be successful in June is Massive..! Ricks would join a very exclusive club of just handful of teams that have successfully completed the a double English channel Swim (Since records began 1950 ), Less than 50 teams from around the world  have ever achieved a 2 way crossing ..of which  only 12 teams were from the UK...only 12.!!!  Successful  2 way channel Men's / Ladies relay swims by year since  records were started in 1950..

( Relay Records  from  http://www.channelswimming.net/index.htm )

1971...United Nations                                        International             24HRS 07Mins

1973... Eastern Marathon S.Assoc.                    USA                        29 46

1974...Hetzel's Texas Volunteers                        USA                        17 50.

1974...Eastern Marathon SC                              USA                        31 26

1977...Egyptian Relay                                        Egypt                       17 34

1977...Saudi Arabian Relay                              Saudi Arabia             16 05

1980...7th Regiment RHA                                 U.K                         19 40

1981...7th Reg. Royal Horse Artillery                U.K                         24 09

1981...Belgian Channel (Breaststroke)              Belgium                    24 01

1982...Br. Cross Channel (Disabled)                 U.K                         24 14

1985...West 1 International                               U.K                          15 36

1986...Egyptian Sports Fed(Disabled)               Egypt                       25 11

1987...Scarborough Castle LDSC                    U.K                          26 43

1988...Eltham Training & S.C.                          U.K                          30 06

1990...US National Swim Team                        USA                         14 18(WORLD RECORD)

1990...Bolton Metro                                         U.K                         28 39

1991...Howe Bridge (Breast Stroke)                 U.K                         29 15

1992...Canadian Channel Challenge                  Canada                    18 48

1993..RAF                                                       U.K                         20 51

1993 Wielkopolanka                                        Poland                      20 43

1994...Sazanami                                              Japan                         24 14

1996...West Aussie Double Crossers               Australia                    19 26

1996...National Grid Ladies                             U.K                           25 01 

1997...Exmouth Swimming & L.S.S.                U.K                           23 41 

1998...Pine Crest Juniors                                 USA/Venezuela          19 25

1998...Pine Crest Seniors                                USA/Venezuela          16 48

1998 ..Sakura                                                 Japan                          24 36

1999..Adventure Seeker                                 International                19 25

2001...Team Extreme                                     Australia                     20 59

2001...Mexican American Family                   Mexico/USA              18 48

2003...Force 6 America                                 USA                          20 18

2003...Michigan Masochists                           USA                          21 20

2004.. Irish Team C                                       Ireland                       27 48

2004....Victoria Police                                   Australia                     24 45                                                     

2005... Femmes de la Manche                       International                30 40

2005...Fionn Uisce                                        Ireland                        30 23

2005.. Finn McCool                                      Ireland                        31 56

2005...Lir                                                      Ireland                        33  05

2005...First Mexican Relay                            Mexico                       20 14

2005...Eltham Training & SC (1)                     UK                           31 36

2006....Casablanca Mexico                           Mexico                       18 54

2006... ABCDEFGH                                    USA                           21 37                                                                          

2007...New York Harbor Seals                    USA                           21 45 

2007...Altamar 66K                                     Mexico                       18  59                                                      

2007...Warrington Dolphins                            UK                          28 54

2008...Friends All Swimming Together (2)    Australia                      25 51

2008...Friends All Swimming Together (1)    Australia                      26 06 

2008...Casablanca Mexico                           Mexico                        31 56 

2008...Dublin Fire Brigade                           Ireland                         21 12

2012 Big Ricks Swim Team                          UK                             ????? The Team feels this could be an amazing year i hope once again you will join in with our adventures, some will be painful , some will be messy , but i can promise you it will be fun..!!! Rx The Training... Open water training 3 times a week, pool training twice a week....and sea training 2 weekends every month....!!!

The First..!!!
The Man who started it all in on August 24th 1875
Captain Matthew Webb..
(1843-1883)
http://www.captainwebb..co.ukThe Words under Captain Webb Statue in Dover UK read....
Nothing Great is Easy......!!!
  
ONLY 40 DAYS TO GO........